Upton "The Source" pickup

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by drurb

Actually, my hesitation is because: 1) I'm too much of a purist and want to be able to have my "naked" bridge and 2) because if I don't like the sound, well, then I'm stuck. That is, my hesitation is not because I expect it will sound bad. Anyway, Ric, I think you know what is likely my next pickup!

Ric

[CButterfield]

I agree with most of the comments made here - I am getting the Source pickup embedded in a copy of my existing bridge. That way I can always go back to my old setup if I don't like the pickup or if it interferes too much with the acoustic sound of my bridge.
I have to say that I have probably tried the majority of pickup systems out there over the years. I tried the Barbera, and not only did I not like the sound, but the embedded piezos destroyed the acoustic sound of my bass. I have tried various bridge wing pickups and in my experience they can sound great if fit well and paired with a more natural sounding pickup/mic. Currently I mostly use a combination of a Schertler Dyn/B pickup and an underwood. the Schertler is similar to the Ehrlund I believe, at least in concept. I find there is a fairly limited volume range I can play at with the Schertler alone. It starts to boom and get muddy at anything over a piano trio volume. That's when I start blending in the underwood to give me some cut.
Anyways, hopefully the Source will be a good solution. I'm getting it installed next week - I'll be sure to post results!

[engedi1]

Actually, I think the schertler and erhlund are very different in this regard. I have done some pretty loud gigs standing two feet from my amp with only the erhlund, and I have never, not even once, had feedback issue. My experience before the erhlund was with barcus berry (simply awful) and with the bassmax(see what drurb said above) I don't mean to derail, but it seems like I have the feedback control now. I have read about feedback issues with schertler before, but you don't seem to have as much of them with the erhlund. I think it is in the preamp, which is just fantastic.

[CButterfield]

update -
I drove up to Gary's shop in Mystic CT a couple weeks ago to get the source pickup installed in a copy they made of my bridge. Unfortunately the didn't have the exact bridge blank to match my existing bridge, but they perfectly matched all of the relevant "playing" parameters - string spacing, string height, bridge arc. Due to the slightly different stance of the bridge, the load on the top of my bass was different, necessitating a slight sound post adjustment to match the sound of my bass with the unaltered bridge. Once this was done, my bass sounded just as good acoustically as before the pickup install. This was a huge worry of mine, since my previous experience with piezos embedded in the bridge was very negative.
The sound of the pickup itself is simply amazing. The pizz sound is clear and cutting yet still sounds very accosting. The arco sound simply surpassed my expectations - very warm and natural sounding - not the super midrange-y sound I have come to expect from piezos. All in all I'm super happy with the result. They even did a nice customization for the jack install. I don't like things in the after length of my strings - I always feel it cuts down on the acoustic resonance a bit. Gary ran the cable out of my bridge behind my tailpiece down to a piece of wood that was lightly glued on top of my saddle. This piece of wood has the jack running through the center. With a 90 degree guitar cable running straight down to the floor, it's extremely unobtrusive. Best of all, Gary is a great guy and checked up on me to make sure that I was happy with the install, the sound of my bass and the sound of the pickup. On my bass, the source pickup sounds great and I'm extremely happy with it!

[Heifetzbass]

Originally Posted by CButterfield

update -
I drove up to Gary's shop in Mystic CT a couple weeks ago to get the source pickup installed in a copy they made of my bridge. Unfortunately the didn't have the exact bridge blank to match my existing bridge, but they perfectly matched all of the relevant "playing" parameters - string spacing, string height, bridge arc. Due to the slightly different stance of the bridge, the load on the top of my bass was different, necessitating a slight sound post adjustment to match the sound of my bass with the unaltered bridge. Once this was done, my bass sounded just as good acoustically as before the pickup install. This was a huge worry of mine, since my previous experience with piezos embedded in the bridge was very negative.
The sound of the pickup itself is simply amazing. The pizz sound is clear and cutting yet still sounds very accosting. The arco sound simply surpassed my expectations - very warm and natural sounding - not the super midrange-y sound I have come to expect from piezos. All in all I'm super happy with the result. They even did a nice customization for the jack install. I don't like things in the after length of my strings - I always feel it cuts down on the acoustic resonance a bit. Gary ran the cable out of my bridge behind my tailpiece down to a piece of wood that was lightly glued on top of my saddle. This piece of wood has the jack running through the center. With a 90 degree guitar cable running straight down to the floor, it's extremely unobtrusive. Best of all, Gary is a great guy and checked up on me to make sure that I was happy with the install, the sound of my bass and the sound of the pickup. On my bass, the source pickup sounds great and I'm extremely happy with it!

Glad you had a good experience with Gary and the crew! They are good people and take good care of their customers. I really enjoyed my hang with them last year. Glad the pickup is working out for you.

Best,
Brian

[RenanDias]

Since The Source is basically the same RSII, I can tell a little.
RSII is a good pickup, at all, although it is difficult to find the right spot, and more difficult to keep it sounding good. If the weather changes drastically, be sure you'll have to spend at least 10 minutes to find the right spot again.
It sounds very natural and the arco sound couldn't be better. Feedback happens, yeah, but any pre with phase inversion can handle this.
If you run it through any DI (even a passive one) it will remove the piezo quack and will sound like a microphone, really.

So I'm not surprised that people are getting good results with The Source. As I don't like any permanent install I wouldn't go for this new one, and although RSII is not very easy to remove and install on other basses, it is possible and it can be useful when travelling, renting basses, etc.

[drurb]

Originally Posted by RenanDias

Since The Source is basically the same RSII, I can tell a little.
RSII is a good pickup, at all, although it is difficult to find the right spot, and more difficult to keep it sounding good. If the weather changes drastically, be sure you'll have to spend at least 10 minutes to find the right spot again.
It sounds very natural and the arco sound couldn't be better. Feedback happens, yeah, but any pre with phase inversion can handle this.
If you run it through any DI (even a passive one) it will remove the piezo quack and will sound like a microphone, really.

So I'm not surprised that people are getting good results with The Source. As I don't like any permanent install I wouldn't go for this new one, and although RSII is not very easy to remove and install on other basses, it is possible and it can be useful when travelling, renting basses, etc.

For what it's worth, I've had various versions of the RS on different basses. Mine were installed by the folks at Upton. I never had any issue at all with stability of the positioning and it was rock solid through changes in the seasons and through normal temperature and humidity changes. I never really had a need to touch it at all. So, keeping it sounding good was a complete non-issue. As for finding the "sweet spot" within the bridge wing, well, that typically took all of five minutes or less. Once I found it, I simply marker it with a pencil so that it could be repositioned if it ever got bumped or if I removed it.

I have since switched to the Ehrlund pickup but I keep the RS handy as my backup.